1. Field of Invention
The present disclosure relates generally to optics, and more particularly to systems and techniques for multi-spectral imaging.
2. Background
For some applications, existing imaging systems are not optimal. For example, in order to accurately determine one or more material characteristics of an object (such as an object in space), existing systems may provide for too much or too little image information. Insufficient image information may not allow accurate determination of material characteristics, while excessive information may require more image processing resources and processing time and thus be inefficient.
One example of a system that may be used to determine material characteristics is a hyper-spectral imaging system. In a hyper-spectral imaging system, an object is imaged at a large number of narrow wavelength bands. The wavelength bands are generally less than about a nanometer in width, so that detailed spectral information about the imaged object is obtained. However, data acquisition and analysis for a hyper-spectral imaging system may be complex and time consuming.
Another example of a system that may be used to determine material characteristics is a television (TV) 3-color measurement system. In a TV system, information is obtained in three color bands; red, green, and blue. TV 3-color imaging is fast and generally inexpensive. However, the information obtained is limited to three broad color bands. Thus, it may be difficult to accurately identify material properties based on image information obtained using a TV 3-color imaging system.